Is there still a nursing shortage?

[Skippy97]

Seems like some people on here have had trouble finding their first jobs, some find them before they even graduated. News and articles frequently state there is...I'm very confused! What is everyone's personal experience finding a job or what have you heard?

[Secretperson]

I have not read all the posts, so I have no idea if someone already addressed this....

There are a surplus of nurses right now that is obvious, however, there are large portions of nurses who have pseudo quit the profession. High demand or needed areas are usually high stress areas, and our nurse folks have finally realized that there is no monetary benefit to work these areas.

Working 36 hrs for a weekend night shift for only 35-40 bucks an hour is not as alluring when the day shift on rehab makes the same pay. Furthermore, 36 hours a week? Not anymore folks this is not supplementing the ole spouse days anymore these are professional men and women who want their pay to reflect their value, and now we also want benefits to match.

So yes for underpaid ****** nurse jobs there are shortages, but overall we are exploding at the seams with highly educated nurses hell bent on working in a capacity that elevates them to a higher pay (and for some a title) far far away from the old nursing status quo..... Hey accrediting organization wanted this:)

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Wow. With that ND pay rate and the bad weather you can clearly see why they are desperate for nurses.

[beckyboo1, BSN, RN]

Obviously that is absolutely no indication there is a shortage of nurses. To know if you have a shortage you need to know how many nurses are available vs the number need.

While they may be offering $10K sign on bonuses. I'm willing to bet that the hourly rate is low, working conditions are sub par, and benefits inadequate, or all three.

In all cases I'm aware of, plentiful jobs and short staffing is a management choice.

You are making a lot of assumptions about somewhere you know nothing about.

[Tempy]

I'm a new graduate with a BSN in the New England area. For transparencies sake, i was offered a position in acute care with a starting wage of $26.50 and $2.50 differential for nights. It was very difficult finding hospital work and the pay seems mediocre at best. Nursing homes in the area were offering about $26/hour.

It's embarrassing talking about pay when there are nurses easily making double my income. I don't want to sound fallacious but it seems universities pump out enough nurses for hospitals to replace their entire nursing staff every year. Obviously that statement is hyperbolic but the job market seems flooded with new grads in the coastal areas. I don't have any friends in nursing and pay is a volatile and taboo topic so maybe i'm uninformed.

[LJPace]

Also, there isn't a nursing shortage, but a shortage of working nurses. The staffing situation and inability to complete the tasks, much less do some nursing, has many nursing leaving the profession.

[longdistancerunner]

What happens when your unit is understaffed?We manage to pull it off by working our asses off. After this is proven over and over and basically becomes the norm-where I ask is the pressure for a hospital to give you proper staffing? They see that you CAN do it all with no help. It's a bargain for them with no sweat off their brow.

[Cvepo]

There are certainly shortages in some places more than others, but the problem is that many new graduates come into the field with very high expectations and some expect to waltz into magnet facilities CVICU jobs with no experience at all because they want to be CRNAs. I don't think we will ever see the drastic shortage that we were taught in school, because there are so many nursing programs out there, and the baby boomers aren't retiring all at once like it was anticipated.